Our congregation—Sisters of Notre Dame—was born of the goodness
and provident love of God who used the friendship of two women to serve the
poor through a new religious community, founded October 1, 1850.
Beginnings in Germany
Hilligonde Wolbring was trained as a teacher in the tradition of Father
Bernard Overberg. Her first position was at St. Lambert School in Coesfeld.
During
the terrible winter of 1848–1849, she offered to take care of a little
girl whose father was unable to look after her. Hilligonde invited her colleague
Elisabeth Kühling to help her provide a home for such children, using
Hilligonde’s inheritance as a financial base. They approached the young
priest in their parish, Father Theodor Elting, for guidance. He suggested
that they give continuity to their work by becoming religious sisters. Thus,
our congregation of the Sisters of Notre Dame began.
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The Belgian Connection
Julie Billiart was born in northeastern France in 1751. Paralyzed after
a traumatic experience in her early twenties, she became known in the
surrounding countryside for her deep prayer life and relationship with
God. During
the
French Revolution, the aristocrat Françoise Blin de Bourdon came to
know Julie as her spiritual guide. These two women—one a peasant, the
other a noblewoman—became good friends. They formed the Sisters
of Notre Dame to educate and care for the daughters of poor people whose
lives
and faith formation had been disrupted during the upheavals of the French
Revolution and the Napoleonic wars. Difficult circumstances in France
led Julie to move her congregation to Namur, Belgium.
The Netherlands Connection
What is the connection between Saint Julie Billiart’s Sisters of
Notre Dame of Namur, Belgium, and our Sisters of Notre Dame of Coesfeld,
Germany?
When the bishop of Münster looked for a congregation to form Hilligonde
and Elisabeth in the religious life, he contacted the Sisters of Notre
Dame from Amersfoort in The Netherlands. These sisters had based their
religious
spirit and way of life on that of St. Julie’s sisters, the Sisters
of Notre Dame de Namur. Thus Saint Julie’s spirit of trust in
God’s
goodness was re-echoed in the sisters in Coesfeld. Today we consider
Saint Julie our spiritual mother. More
